Social:

Sigma Nu is all about keeping a social balance in its events. Sure, packed parties are awesome, but so is having a date night with your closest friends from freshmen year, having a small Thursday kickback, or meeting friends at Sigma Nu before wine tasting, pub night, or campus performances. Even though we have great all-campus events like the Splash parties, SNAPS, and Balcony Nights, that's less than half of our social calendar. We have themed events with sororities, quarterly formals off-campus, and in-house events just for brothers and their closest friends. We're out for a good time, and want to make sure that Sigma Nu is a place to meet new people and to hang out with both friends and other Greeks.
-Ted Sands, Social Chair 2006

Community Service:

We believe very strongly at Sigma Nu that it is our duty to give back to our community, in every way possible. Whether it is by throwing the biggest and best parties on campus for our fellow students to enjoy, or by camping out front of the local Safeway asking people for canned goods, our position as a well organized group of caring individuals lets us do great things. Furthermore, our organization includes individuals who have spent a year volunteering in Africa with Forge, started Hass Fellowship programs, organized tutoring and teaching programs and created and managed a nation-wide student awareness and fundraising organization called FACE AIDS.

Our typical Community Service schedule mirrors our social calendar: we typically have one or two large events per quarter, surrounded by a group of smaller events. We are making a movement towards integrating social aspects into our Community Service projects so that we can really get to know people better outside of the party scene, while providing some service for others.

Larger events planned for the spring include the Safeway Sleepout, a Sigma Nu favorite to raise canned goods for shelters in the area, and a Habitat for Humanity build or 2nd Mile construction project. In the fall we have annual event, Big Gift, in which we compete against the Cal chapter of Sigma Nu to collect gifts for local charities.

Smaller events have included tutoring with a sorority in EPA, cooking breakfast for the homeless, blood drives with sororities for the Stanford Blood Center, volunteering for Stanford’s annual Powwow, and helping out at the Bing Fair.

We are excited to see what the future brings Sigma Nu, but I am more interested in seeing what Sigma Nu will bring the future. Go team.

-Weston McBride, Community Service Chair 2007-2008
Moonsplash Czar emeritus

Chapter Development:

Chapter development here at Beta Chi takes a wide variety of forms. It’s getting together at the house for basketball and a barbeque, and it’s rolling out in force to support our brothers in Gaieties, athletic competition and drama productions. It’s scarfing down Taco Bell burritos with the rest of the fraternity cheering you on, and it’s kicking it around the house on a Saturday night watching a movie and simply enjoying each others’ company. “Chapter D” happens through annual traditions, spur of the moment activities, and everything in between – but no matter how it happens, it’s always about building bonds with your brothers.
-Wes Mateo, Chapter D Chair 2007

Pledging:

Sigma Nu’s pledge process focuses on three major goals: bringing each pledge class together as brothers, integrating the pledge class into the fraternity as a whole, and instructing the new pledge class on the history, values and character of the Sigma Nu fraternity. The Sigma Nu fraternity was initially founded in opposition to rampant hazing at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Proud of this history, the Sigma Nu Beta Chi chapter prides itself in creating a pledge process devoid of all forms of physical, mental and psychological hazing. Instead, focused on its goals, the pledge process presents each pledge class a diverse set of challenges called events. Each event pushes the pledge class towards accomplishing one of the three goals. Often, these events become a member’s most memorable experience as a Sigma Nu.
-John Nantz and Andrew Ehrich, Pledge Marshall and Pledge Educator 2007